NADIA PFLAUM, Standard-Examiner staff

OGDEN — Testimony given in court Monday made it clear how lucky a shooting victim is to be alive and how close the accused came to being charged with murder.

At about 1:30 a.m. June 18, 2016, two men walking home from an evening watching live music on 25th Street got into a shouting match with three men who came running across Washington Boulevard to confront them, Weber County Attorney Christopher Shaw said. As the men faced off, witnesses heard four pops, and one man collapsed near 2730 Washington with gunshot wounds to his upper chest, abdomen, clavicle and left forearm.

Patrick Bobby Galindo Jr., 20, stands trial in connection with the incident this week before Judge Ernie Jones in 2nd District Court. He’s charged with attempted murder, a first-degree felony; first-degree felony discharge of a firearm; and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony. Jurors were selected Monday morning, and testimony from the state’s witnesses began in the afternoon.

A witness to the shooting, Philip Graham, testified he and his girlfriend were walking south on Washington Avenue, just 100 feet ahead of the victim and his friend, and heard yelling from across the street. The two men behind them yelled back. All were shouting “typical fight words,” Graham said.

The three men eventually came “sprinting” across the street to confront the two men walking behind Graham and his girlfriend, Graham said. Graham said he heard “pop-pop-pop-pop,” and the three men ran “immediately back northwest on Washington to where they came from.”

Graham called 911 and approached the victim, who he could see was struggling to breathe. Graham said he took off his shirt and “plugged the bullet holes I could see, one on his hip and one in his chest.” He said his girlfriend removed her sweater to continue applying pressure to the wounds.

Graham testified that, when interviewed as part of the following investigation, he did not pick a suspect from a lineup of mugshots Ogden police showed him because he didn’t see any of the three men’s faces clearly enough in the dark. He said he could only say they were “Hispanic” because of their accents.

Ogden police officer Cody Wright was one of the first emergency responders on scene. He testified to the shape he found the victim in and described doing CPR.

“He was just this gray, ghost color, and his eyes were wide open, staring at the sky,” Wright said. “I don’t know who’s done chest compressions here, but it’s a heinous task, feeling bones moving around and breaking ... I heard gurgling sounds in his throat, and after about 20 compressions, he tried to breathe.”

Soon after, paramedics arrived and took over the life-saving efforts.

Other witnesses included members of Weber Metro Crime Scene Investigation who processed bullet casings and a gun retrieved from in between a fence and a building northwest of the crime scene, as well as a trauma surgeon from Intermountain Healthcare who described the three surgeries the victim underwent to survive the ordeal.

Galindo’s attorney, Randall Richards, asked the jury to follow the judge’s instructions to keep an open mind until they’ve heard all of the evidence. He said police lied to Galindo in their interrogations to coax a confession from him and that Galindo has an alibi witness who will testify later in the week.

“There are pieces of evidence that I will bring in that will establish that my client didn’t do it,” Richards said.

The victim in the case watched the proceedings from the front row. Outside the courtroom after court was dismissed for the day, he lifted his shirt to show Graham a scar on his chest, smiling wide. He put his palms together underneath his chin and said, “Thank you so much.”

The victim’s mother said this was her first chance to meet the good Samaritans who helped save her son’s life.

The proceedings will resume tomorrow, Thursday and Friday in 2nd District Court.